How Can I fly to New York This Summer Without Paying Hundreds of Dollars?

My good friend Rachael is looking to plan a trip from Cincinnati to New York this summer. She can’t find a flight for less than $320 at the moment and I wanted to outline some of the possibilities for her to fly to New York for free. Some flights from the west coast during the summer can run you $500-$600 or more. Here are some great options to fly using miles, and if you don’t have miles, there are some great cards you can open that can set you up with multiple free domestic round trip flights!

My favorite option for short-haul flights in the U.S. is booking on British Airways’ platform for American Airlines flights. British Airways and American Airlines are partners and you can book American Airline flights through British Airways to secure cheaper award tickets. To learn more about British Airways Avios award flights and how to book using their platform, read this article. Example itinerary:

Cincinnati-NYC-Cincinnati

Pick your departure flight:

Cincinnati-JFK

Return Flight:

JFK-Cincinnati

Full Itinerary:

Itinerary

Another great option is to fly from Cincinnati-Newark on United for 20,000 points round trip. United doesn’t have the same short-haul chart as British Airways but is great for long domestic flights and international flights with no fuel surcharges. Make sure you book more than 3 weeks in advance otherwise you will incur an $80 fee. United points can be accrued with your United MileagePlus card, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Chase Ink cards.

Good luck booking your trip Rachael, and if you need some points before your trip I definitely recommend looking into those credit cards listed. They are well worth having and can earn you some really valuable points from here on out.